


All I ever wanted

by redex_writes



Series: AWO Fictober 2020 [5]
Category: A Way Out (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apologies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Smut, Non-Explicit Sex, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:54:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26932441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redex_writes/pseuds/redex_writes
Summary: Fictober prompt 10Vincent's lied one too many times, but he wants to make things right with Leo.
Relationships: Leo Caruso/Vincent Moretti
Series: AWO Fictober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941064
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24
Collections: A Way Out Fictober 2020





	All I ever wanted

_Lightning illuminated the space between them, casting Leo’s face in harsh light. The thunder boomed, and the rain soaked into Vincent’s clothes, but none of it mattered as Leo dropped his gun and kicked it away._

_“I’m not going to fight you.”_

_His eyes were dark, but Vincent saw the truth in them. Leo wasn’t fighting. He wasn’t running away. He’d stuck with Vincent until the very end, and he wasn’t leaving._

_Vincent dropped his gun._

_“The fire exit.” His voice hardly carried over the rain, but he knew Leo could understand him. “You’ve got time to get down and out the back before they surround the place. It’s dark; easy to lose someone if they’re careful.”_

_Leo’s eyes widened at the implications._

_“What about you?”_

_Vincent set his jaw._

_“We can’t both run.”_

_“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Leo grabbed his shoulder, fingers digging into his soaked shirt. “You can come with me. We’ll get away from here, we’ll get to safety. We’ll be together. We’ll be fre--”_

_A shout from below interrupted him. His eyes flicked towards the door, but he kept his grip tight on Vincent’s shoulder. Vincent had seconds to make his decision._

_“Go east.” He laid his hand over Leo’s, squeezing it tight. “Get as far out of California as you can, to the place you were telling me about. Let me deal with this, and then I’ll come for you.”_

_Leo hesitated, but after a few moments he nodded. He grabbed the back of Vincent’s neck and pulled him in, kissing him one final time before pulling away with a lingering squeeze of his hand._

_“Don’t stop until you’re sure you’re safe. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”_

_Leo nodded again. He let his hand slip away from Vincent’s, and with one last glance and a flash of lightning, he disappeared over the side of the building and down the fire escape._

_He heard the pounding footsteps of his fellow officers as they raced up the stairs, and sighed as he prepared himself to give his statement._

_Let nobody say that Vincent Moretti wasn’t a good liar._

+++

Vincent squints up at the house in front of him, then back down at the scrap of paper in his hand. The neighbourhood is quiet, all of the kids living in the other rental houses off at school, their parents likely taking much-needed breaks. The sun glints off of the metal numbers hanging over the door, and there’s no mistaking it; this is the right place.

He doesn’t know what he’s expecting, really; doesn’t even know if his info is up-to-date. And even if it is, it’s been years. So much can change over the course of a few years, and his gut twists anxiously when he thinks about what could be different.

But he’s done being a coward. He’s waited this long; he isn’t going to wait any longer loitering on the sidewalk.

He climbs the few steps up to the small porch to the front door. With a shaking hand, he presses the doorbell, hearing it echo from inside as he quickly pulls his hand away and waits.

There’s a muffled “Coming!” followed by footsteps. Vincent feels like his chest might explode as he hears several locks clicking from the inside.

The door swings open, and he stops breathing.

The way Leo’s eyes widen as he registers who’s at the door would be comical if it were any other situation. Vincent opens his mouth to say something, before realizing that he hadn’t actually prepared anything in advance. He takes a deep breath, but before he can make a single noise, Leo’s stepping away and swinging the door shut. Vincent barely manages to shove his foot in just before it slams in his face, wincing at the pain.

“Leo--”

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll turn around and walk away right now.”

The sound of Leo’s voice after all this time clenches around his heart like a vice. He stubbornly plants his foot, staring Leo down.

“Leo, let me in.”

“I swear to god, if you don’t leave right this second--”

“I’m not leaving until you listen to what I have to say.”

Leo’s eyes narrow, and for a second, Vincent thinks he might punch him. To his surprise however, he lets go of the door and turns on his heel, disappearing into the house.

Vincent quickly follows, shutting and locking the door behind him. He rounds a corner and finds himself face-to-face with Leo, standing in the living room with his arms crossed and his expression dark. Vincent’s mouth feels dry, and he swallows around the lump in his throat.

“You’ve got ten seconds to explain what the _hell_ you’re doing here and why.”

He realizes then that he doesn’t actually know. He’d gotten the address from an old woman in the town office, who luckily hadn’t blinked twice when he said he was an old family member looking to get in touch. The trip itself had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, fuelled by a long-overdue layoff and night after night spent being eaten alive by guilt and grief.

He tries to articulate that as best as he can, but all that comes out is, “I got fired.”

That was not the right thing to say. Leo’s nostrils flare, and he tenses like a predator waiting to strike. Vincent raises his hands, desperate to explain himself. He isn’t going to let this go unsaid.

“I needed to talk to you. I needed to explain--”

“Explain what, Vincent?” Leo’s voice is dripping with disdain, and his expression matches in intensity. “You come all the way out here to explain how you _lied_ to me? How you told me you’d come for me? How you gave me hope that things would be okay, that _we_ would be okay, only to abandon me without a single fucking thought?”

Vincent frowns. “That’s not what happened.”

“Yes it fucking is!” Leo’s raising his voice, and Vincent winces at the emotion in it. “You strung me along on a goddamn goose chase, then tell me you care about me, then you tell me you’re a fucking cop, and _then_ you promise that you’ll come to me and we can finally be free!”

Leo’s fists are clenched, and Vincent is starting to wish he would punch him and get it over with. Hearing the words in his head in the dead of night is nothing compared to having Leo spell it out for him.

“And then, when I finally get to safety, when I finally get to the place we said we’d start a life someday, _nothing_. I waited, Vincent. I waited, and I waited, and I kept waiting until I saw on the news that I was pronounced dead and the officer who was in charge of the operation was calling off the search.”

“I wanted to come to you.” Vincent reaches out, but Leo jerks away before he can get close. “I wanted to find you, to be with you. But you know as well as me that the only way they’d stop looking for you was if you were…”

He shakes his head. Leo crosses his arms, sneers at him mockingly.

“So, what? You finally get fired for being a shitty fucking cop, and you decide to come crawling to me because I’m the only other thing you know?”

The words are like a slap to the face, and Vincent’s mouth falls open.

“No--Leo, that’s not it at all.”

“You know, I really thought that you cared.” He shakes his head, looking at Vincent in disgust. “I thought I meant something to you.”

“Leo, you did--you _do_.”

The sound of Leo’s laugh is harsh in Vincent’s ears.

“Right, yeah, okay. That’s why you’d rather throw me away instead of even _trying_ to make things work. We could’ve done it, Vincent. We would’ve found a way.”

He’s started to pace now. Vincent watches, mute, as he continues his rant.

“You changed what I thought was the most important thing to me. Before, all I ever wanted was to be free, to be out of that fucking prison, out of Harvey’s fucked up ring. But then I met you, and I just--I wanted--”

He makes a frustrated noise and turns back to Vincent. His eyes are burning with anger, but Vincent is horrified to see tears brimming there as well.

“Leo--”

Leo shakes his head, stepping further away and running an agitated hand through his hair. Vincent gingerly reaches out to him, but he whips around, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

“And you!” He suddenly stalks forward, shoving his finger hard into Vincent’s chest. “You think I give two shits about your stupid job? You think I _care_ about whatever bullshit you think you need to say to me?”

Vincent clenches his teeth, and Leo’s lips curve into a dark, humourless smile.

“I’d rather die on that roof.”

White hot anger streaks through Vincent’s body, and before he can think about it he’s shoving into Leo’s space, knocking his hand aside and grabbing the front of his shirt.

“You listen to me,” he hisses through his teeth. “I know you’d rather be a stubborn ass than listen to reason, but did it ever cross your mind that maybe, just fucking maybe, this was the only option for me?”

Leo’s gaping at him as if he hadn’t been expecting the outburst. Vincent releases his shirt, but he doesn’t move away; instead he glares Leo down, his mind a roiling mess of emotions.

“I know what I could’ve done, okay? And believe you me--I could’ve done it. I could’ve put a bullet through your chest and watched you bleed out on that damned roof--and if not me, the other cops wouldn’t give it a second thought. And if I hadn’t said what I did, you wouldn’t have gotten away, and that’s exactly what would’ve happened.”

He almost feels bad as Leo’s face pales, but he can hardly think past the ringing in his ears.

“But that was never an option.” He steps away, and as soon as there’s a bit more distance between them, he feels himself slump under the weight that falls over him.

“I couldn’t live with myself. I know you’ll never believe me, not again, but…” He shakes his head, a hollow smile on his face as he looks down at the floor.

“Leo, if you’d died on that roof, part of me would’ve died with you.”

Tears have started to fall, burning the backs of his eyes and trailing hot down his cheeks.

“Without you...part of me already has.”

The silence that falls is heavy, crushing.

Leo makes a choked sort of sound, and suddenly Vincent’s face is being gripped in a tight hold, his head is being yanked up, and Leo’s lips are crashing down against his.

Vincent’s strangled sob is immediately lost between them, and he surges forward into the kiss. Leo makes a similar noise, and his grip on Vincent’s face tightens as he walks them backwards.

His back thuds against the wall, but he hardly feels it as Leo crowds against him. He grips the fabric of Leo’s shirt tight enough that his knuckles ache, but Leo is pressing against him and pushing his tongue into his mouth and _christ_ , Vincent can hardly think.

“Leo,” he pants against his mouth, sucking in short, harsh breaths as their lips part for a few moments. “ _Leo--_ ”

“Vince,” Leo rumbles, and Vincent swears he could cry. He is crying, he realizes, the tears from his anger and hurt burning into something hotter, sharper, squeezing his chest. He laughs wetly, gripping the back of Leo’s neck and pressing their foreheads together.

“Stupid,” he breathes, and he no longer knows which one of them he’s talking about. “So fucking stupid, can’t believe it took this long--never should’ve let you go, should’ve come with you, should’ve--”

Leo silences him with a near-bruising kiss, and that’s infinitely more important than his lamenting.

He doesn’t know how long they’re pressed against the wall, gripping at clothes and panting hot breaths between kisses. Every time their kisses get messier, more desperate, Leo tries to pull away to presumably move them to the bedroom or at least the _couch_ , but every time Vincent yanks him back against him and seals their lips again.

Eventually though, he can no longer stand the heat either, and lets Leo pull away to get his belt open, reaching out to help Vincent with his when his hands shake too much.

He’s so wound up that once Leo wraps a hand around him, all it takes is a handful of quick tugs to get him sobbing into Leo’s mouth, body tensing tight like an elastic band, before snapping as he shakes and comes over his fist. Leo holds him through it, murmurs hushed words into his ear, his hair, kissing every bit of Vincent’s face he can reach as he comes down from his high.

He feels Leo start to move against him, and looks down to see his hand shoved down the front of his pants, hips snapping forward as his arm jerks. Nudging Leo’s face up so he can reach his lips again, Vincent gently pushes his hand away and replaces it with his own.

He swallows down Leo’s moans when he comes.

As soon as he’s finished he’s slumping against Vincent, who guides them both to the floor. Back against the wall, he holds Leo close, runs his fingers through his hair as he cradles him to his chest.

It takes a few moments to realize that Leo’s started to cry, shoulders shaking against him. He shifts their positions so Leo’s sitting against his chest, their legs splayed out over each other on the floor, and holds him as he cries.

“Missed you,” Leo’s whispering, so low and broken that Vincent barely catches it at first. “Missed you so fucking much Vince, waited for you every fucking day, broke my heart every time I went to sleep without you.”

Vincent squeezes his eyes shut, tightening his hold on him.

“I know,” he murmurs. “I know. I’m sorry Leo, I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Don’t you _ever_ do that again.” Leo raises his head, looking at him with red-rimmed eyes. Vincent smiles a little, wiping away a few stray tears with his thumb.

“Never. Never again.”

Leo hums and tilts his head up, brushing his lips over Vincent’s jaw. He sighs, feeling for the first time in years, finally at peace.

“It was always you, Leo.” He turns his head, kisses Leo’s temple, makes sure he can hear him when he speaks softly into his ear. “You’re all I ever wanted.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: I wrote this in comic sans.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm not all that used to writing angst, but it comes so easy with these two. They've got a lot of feelings :')  
> Also, this wasn't originally going to have smut, but it just kind of...happened. There might be more of that in some of my prompts; I haven't finished all of them yet, so we'll see.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you have a good day!


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